I did not have a $8 Bypass but can vote for me?
He's a millionaire Minister. He pays only $8, yes, a measly $8 and he gets to stay in a top of the table "A" Class Ward when he went for his Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery and the mainstream media made a meal of it. Being the Health Minister, I guess you get different treatment in your Hospital or even from mainstream media. I mean who would want to mess around with Boss?
As a Health Minister, why on earth would he want to tell the whole world of how cheap it is to get serviced for a dreaded disease and potential heart attack?
Is he telling us:
- How affordable hospital charges are in Singapore?
- How great CPF Medisave is?
- The magic that CPF Medishield can do?
- Everybody must buy much more health insurance than what Medishield provides or more than one can afford?
- He is an expert in his financial planning?
- He is so rich he can afford to pay premiums over and above CPF Medishield?
- He, like GCT, is trying to get more poor Singaporeans insured so that poorer folks won't have to disturb the Government (MYCS?) for help when things unpleasant like accident, sickness or bereavement happens?
Holy $8! The ivory tower has indeed blinded so many in power. Why on earth brag on how much you saved or how cheap it is to go through a traumatic experience like CABG? Having been given a second chance at life, I would have thought that one would have been humbled and be grateful for a second shot at life. One would live a life of empathy and caring and be sensitive to the sensitivities of others. especially the sick, the down and out, the poor and less fortunate.
What do they know from so high up? Or is it their refusal to know?
- Does he know that most Singaporean are not as rich or as clever or as lucky as he?
- Does he know of those who are too poor to see a neighborhood GP and have to queue for hours to see a doctor at Polyclinic long before the Polyclinic opens its doors for business?
- Does he know some have to wait for weeks even months before they can have an appointment (through Polyclinic) to see a Specialist about their suspected serious illness?
- Does he know about the additional cost patients have to cough up to use their Medisave to pay for medicines for chronic diseases. To pay an Admin Fee to use one's own Medisave is the most cruel joke on hapless patients. It's just like paying an extortioner to have the key to your own piggy bank?
- Does he know of those who can only survive from hand to mouth. If you cannot afford food to fill your tummy, what insurance are we talking about? Before getting swell headed by his own savings and get carried away about higher payout by insurance companies, think, please think carefully of the hike in premiums. We are tired, very sick and tired of them messing around with our CPF without our permission.
- Does he know about "Chiak pa, mai bway kee yau" = "When your tummy is full, do not forget the hungry years" or "Remember the goodbyes that were said before entering the cold operating theatre"?
- Does he know that showing off may win some senseless toadies but decent blokes abhor braggarts?
If I were a Health Minister, I would not tell my countrymen and women of how cheap it is to pay for hospital procedures. I would ask them:
- To be healthy, to stay healthy.
- To eat carefully with good health in mind.
- To avoid sedentary lifestyle and do regular exercise to stay fit.
- To avoid stress by not mindlessly chasing after Cash, Condo, Credit Card, Car and Casino.
- To learn to be Confident, Creative, Competent and most important to be Content and not to be rats in this crazy rat race where the creed is to 'fix and buy' power, pay yourself and yours obscenely well and suck the rest dry.
- To understand that the greatest gift we can give those we love is to stay healthy.
No, I would not tell them how cheap it is to get sick but I'd encourage them to avoid sickness by living a healthy lifestyle. It should be health promotion and sickness prevention and not about how money-smart one is to pay only $8 for a CABG surgery!
It's crazy. It makes a mockery of what health is about.
So, can vote for me?
feedmetothefish :)
posted by FeedMeToTheFish @ 10:18 PM
33 Comments
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33 Comments:
u'v got my vote, fish
Hi Fish,
This is another Guinness Book of Record stuff. $8 for a heart bypass surgery in one of the best hospitals in the world.
We should trumpet this to the world.
Fish,
I always have serious doubts about those who serve the despot and his son, even though they seem more appealing amongst the bunch of PAP stooges.
The streetsmart ones do not call Khaw B W "The Cow" for nothing.
Khaw can now brag about his $8 bypass in his election rally speech and proclaim that the medical services in Singapore is like heaven!
You sound so bitter. Since you're so miserable, why don't you kill yourself? Bet you don't dare!
In kinda strange but I think that this public display of a $8 dollar surgical procedure for a cabinet minister is how the party in power relate to those who vote for them. People who vote for the party in power expect their leaders to publicise their benefits and perks.
The percieved genius of a cabinet minister makes their supporters feel good about the fact that they will never have the opportunity to pay $8 for their surgery. They dont feel deprived but but are awestruck by their leaders ability to pay only $8 dollars for a bypass.
You mean his employer did not cover his medical expenses?
How can it be?
Minister Lim Boon Heng may live to 80 without any medical help!
He is stronger than Minister Khaw.
anon @ 1pm,
You should ask LKY himself, for he knows best about such things.
Afterall, did'nt LKY preserved his life and his own well being by serving the notorious Japs who brutalised civilians during occupation of Spore in WW2 ?
As you can see, even a coward and traitor to one's country also knows the value of staying alive, does not matter if he becomes the ultimate shame, right ? LOL
Hahahaha.......
Right!
LOL.
Our leaders are obviously living higher and higher in the air away from us on the ground. I think they have totally lost touch with reality.
One minister thinks that $320 pm help is already way too much.
Another now tells us that there are heart bypass surgery procedures that costs only $8, perhaps boasting that Singapore hospitals and medical care are indeed dirt cheap.
Yet another is now floating the idea (certainty) of retirement age being raised to 68. You see, they think Singaporeans are like children, little by little the Government can take away from them by sweet talk, so long as they can take the initial step. The rest is just add ons that they will make unilaterally. How on earth does he expect those living from paycheck to paycheck to survive between 55 and 68 without savings whatsoever.
Maybe I should pay $8 and do it now while I am still young, and since it is so cheap now. Who knows with the staggering inflation we have what it would cost 30 years down the road.
"Scuse me nurse, I oso want to register for the Khaw Boon Wan $8 Heart Bypass Package can or not...."
@anon, 1pm
re feel miserable? kill yourself.
what a loser you seem to be. what a totally uncreative solution to any problem. anyway, bet YOU wldn't dare do it.
as for khaw boon wan's $8 operation, the big question surely is: Why did he have to pay SO MUCH?!
he's a minister. he gets medical benefits; big time benefits. how is it his employer didn't pick up the bill?
why on earth did he have to draw on his medisave and insurance policies when he has medical benefits?
was he deprived of what was rightfully due to him? how is it he doesn't seem to even be aware of what he should get in benefits?
it all smells really ... fishy.
or perhaps it was an oversight? he was careless and left a few zeros out of the figure? or the hospital billed wrongly? or mayb, it was an act of god... amen.
knn, how can i get less than 8 bucks kind of offer? I want to beat him.
but alas, it doubt it's possible. Guess i am just "competent", not "exceptional".
If I were to vote for you, would you work towards a health system that every one pay no more than $8 for a major operation?
If Singaporeans had any sence of pride or decency they would have long realised that the government treats them as idiots or dogs which need to be trained or simply daft and yet you vote for them..ask yourself ..have you gained or have they gained..are you richer or are they..kick the self serving green keyed devils out
It sounds like a person, while on his death bed, bragged about how cheap his coffin was, instead of treasuring every moment of his available life with his family and to do more good things. This is as good as telling Singaporeans to go JB and Batam for cheap treatment ignoring the inconveniences posed on the patient's families.
Why go to JB or Batam for $8?
Did we get the real story, the full story?
I tend to agree that Singaporeans are really daft.
Here, time and again they have been screwed, slapped on the face, sniggered at, ridiculed, looked down upon and ignored, yet they continue to vote for the same people who couldn't bother two hoots about whether they live or die.
This $8 bypass surgery revelation is really, really a one of a kind, as insensitive as the $50K cooking course in Paris.
Maybe from tomorrow onwards, civil servants will have to buy their own health insurances. Since a cabinet member and one incharge of the Health Ministry has to pay for his own medical treatment, why not other civil servants?
Anyone support this theory ?
patriot
We don't know whether the premiums for his hospitalisation insurance is taken care of by the Government. Likely so.
Hospitalisation insurance are not cheap, especially when you get older, and the premiums could go up to few thousand dollars a year.
How many elderly Singaporeans can afford that? For Khaw, of course no problem.
'Being the Health Minister, I guess you get different treatment in your Hospital or even from mainstream media.'
If you have evidence that he was treated differently at the hospital, show it. Otherwise, you just sound stupid making baseless allegations.
Obviously, the hospital charged a lot more than the $8 Khaw paid. The employer picked up the rest of the tab. That's a common benefit for employees of even junior rank.
You are so bitter that you try to make an issue out of a non-issue. When you get to that stage, as I said at 1pm, you should kill yourself because you no longer think life is worth living. You're an utter waste of physical and cyber space.
to anon 5:58pm,
I confess that I am also feeling very bitter and I believe many feel the same way too, but
to do as you suggest would be ultimate stupidity, right ? LOL
Don't you realise your suggestion itself is bitter? LOL
How about this counter suggestion? you set up a personal website and do a poll on PM and MM to determine how many Sporeans want both to retire, including a bitter index associated with the father and son. Just sing it out if you need ideas for the bitter index, okay?
Alternatively, you wait for the outcome of this coming GE to gauge for yourself how many bitter Sporeans are like me. LOL
For the benefit of the anonymous who posted twice encouraging me to go kill myself.
I'm sad that you are in such a mental state that the death of me pleases you so much that you requested twice.
I believe that in any situation that we are in, we can choose to be bitter or we can choose to be better. I choose to be better.
In response to your comment at October 30, 2010 5:58 PM, I wish you to know that my life is definitely worth living as I have much love and happiness from real people and even strangers who visit my blog. I choose not to be rattled by negative and mean comments like, "You're an utter waste of physical and cyber space."
In blogging one must be prepared of all kinds of comments. It comes with the territory. I'm grateful for the kind comments and encouragement from many readers who wish me well.
I write to de-stress and not to stress anyone. If my writing irritates you, I humbly suggest that you not visit my blog. That would save you the aggravation and stress that I do not wish upon anyone.
I wish you well!
So, can vote for me?
feedmetothefish
One Singaporean seems very happy to see other Singaporeans commit suicides.
Dear Fren, You cant be happy all the time, should be very lucky to be most of the time.
Me tells You not to take your own life whence you are unhappy, not tat it is an offence, but to face the challenge and fight the unjust.
Wish U all the best!
Mr Fish, I like your spirit to live better despite all the odds in life. Me, if have to suffer pain, struggle and live in despondence, will choose to fight the evils of the society and martyr myself if need to.
To end oneself, just becos one is not happy of somebody or their doings, must be a wasteful and stoopid choice.
If ones' hardship is caused by oneself and nobody else, than blaming others is not the right thing to do. Apparently many poor and sick Singaporeans are suffering due to the high costs of essential goods and services due to policy implementations.
Anyway, Advance Medical Directive is made available to those who cannot afford anymore treatment due to whatever reason. This is no suicide to me, it is legally aided suicide, a choice mainly make by others other than the patients themselves.
The evils that we are exposed to nowadays come in the forms of oppression(tyranny), exploitation, manipulation and bullying by people with powers to abuse. It is not terrorism by terrorist, gangster or those we live with.
The smiling tigers that claimed to be the most talented elites that lead us to nowhere are the culprits. They're the ones making living very difficult for most of us.
Yes, Singaporeans should fight for the society to be better, for oneself and for all. When one is still able to contribute towards the betterments of out existences, do it! If there need be sacrifice, so be it. Cant allow those marauding smiling tigers lurking around all the time.
When one is too weak for actions, use words, let go the frustration and exasperation. Dying silently in suffering is a waste of life, do contribute in anyway one can.
'I believe that in any situation that we are in, we can choose to be bitter or we can choose to be better. I choose to be better. '
You know yourself whether you are bitter or better. Go read your own posts, especially this one on Khaw. You desperately want to blame someone for all the wrongs in your life – someone, anyone, but yourself!
'So, can vote for me?'
No, I can't vote for someone who moans and groans and makes groundless allegations on a non-issue. But that's the secondary reason. The primary reason is that you won't be running in the next or any GE, but will just sit on your butt and blame the whole world except yourself. All that running for election stuff is part of your perpetual whining.
You feel love? Don't make me laugh! There is nothing but resentment in your posts.
to anon 11.26 AM
To me, the leaders in PAP are ego-centric, self serving, habitual liars, low on integrity, greedy, have no sense of fairplay, no sense of honour.
It is my personal view and explains my resentment towards the PAP.
I presume you disagree with me in the way I view the PAP buggers, that is fine with me. Just learn to accept that people like me or Fish tend to speak our minds.
Seriously, Fish is a mild gentleman.
Has it ever occurred to you, to compare his level of influence with "New Temasek Review" or "TOC" ?
Go and read the comments in these websites and feel the resentment or bitterness for yourself.
Nevertheless, let's be clear about one thing, despite my resentment, I am still capable of love, loyalty to my family and countrymen.
ps: even Hitler understands this.
@ anonymous on October 31, 2010 11:26 AM - I don't think that Fish is whinging or whining, he is making a legitimate comment abt one of the many Ministers who seemed to have lost touch with the ground , who instead of nurturing the people as suggested by Dr Wong Wee Nam on TOC's website, are alienating them instead. I agree with Fish that if his blog entries make you so upset that you ask him to kill himself, do yourself and Fish's readers a favour, stop reading his blog and aggravating yourself and others...He has every right to write what he wants. It is his blog. You can disagree with his views but asking him to kill himself says more about your state of mind than his...
'He is making a legitimate comment abt one of the many Ministers.'
Excuse me, which part of this post is a legitimate comment?
'To me, the leaders in PAP are ego-centric, self serving, habitual liars, low on integrity, greedy, have no sense of fairplay, no sense of honour.'
IS THAT ALL?! In the world of politics, if those are the only faults you can think of, the PAP leaders are bloody good!
'If his blog entries make you so upset...'
I love reading blogs that 'upset' me.
to anon @ 10.51pm
now run along and
tell this to LKY and his PAP that even though they are ego centric, self serving, habitual liars, low on integrity, greedy, no sense of fairplay, no sense of honour,
you still think they are bloody good!
LKY and his PAP will surely appreciate your assessment on what they stand for.
Come to think of it, the PAP leadership can use your argument to win more votes in their election rally and walk about.
Hi Fish
I like your spirit and your comments to idiot who insist on getting himself upset by reading your blog.
Keep up the good work.
The truth hurts.
Keep up the good work Mr. Fish. Never let their comments lower your spirit, not that you are that easily rattled like some people.
I went to the polyclinic and paid $19 as I was down with flu.
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